Cold As Life

I'VE NEVER BEEN ONE TO MAKE PERSONAL OR BUSINESS PROBLEMS PUBLIC OR PUT PEOPLE IN A POSITION WHERE THEY WOULD FEEL FORCED INTO CHOOSING SIDES, BUT I FEEL NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW HOW OR WHAT BROKE COLD AS LIFE UP AND WHAT IS NOW HAPPENING WITH IT. FOR ANYBODY THAT DID OR DOES GIVE TWO FUCKS ABOUT COLD AS LIFE, FOR ANYBODY THAT COULD RELATE, RESPECT OR SUPPORTED IT IN ANYWAY, HERE IS THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.... C.A.L. STARTED IN 88, DIED IN 2001. WE WERE A D.I.Y. BAND NOT SIGNED TO ANY LABEL. DID EVERYTHING FROM FUND OUR RECORDS, BOOK OUR TOURS, DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OUR MERCH. FOR THE MOST PART THINGS WERE THE WAY WE WANTED THEM. FOR A BAND THAT NOT JUST SURVIVED FOR, BUT ROSE ABOVE FOR TWELVE YEARS. IT WAS NATURAL TO HAVE MEMBERS COME AND GO. BY THE MID 90'S THE ONLY ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE BAND WERE MYSELF AND ROY BATES, WHO BY LATE 90'S HAD ALSO LEFT THE BAND TO PURSUE HIS BUSINESS AND FOCUS ON HIS FAMILY, AT THIS POINT ALL IS WELL. WHEN HE LEFT HE DID IT RESPECTFULLY, HE WAS HONEST AND UP FRONT. HE LEFT US ROOM AND TIME TO FILL HIS POSITION. WE NEVER MISSED A BEAT. NOW AT THAT POINT I WAS THE ONLY ORIGINAL MEMBER IN THE BAND STRUGGLING WITH PERSONAL BILLS AND PROBLEMS. I ASKED MIKE COULS, OUR BASS PLAYER AT THE TIME, TO HELP WITH SOME OF OUR OFFICE DUTIES, NOT KNOWING IT WOULD BE A HUGE MISTAKE, BUT I HAD NO CHOICE. AT THE TIME IT SEEMED THE ONLY THING TO HELP KEEP THINGS GOING AND FOR A BIT IT SEEMED TO WORK UNTIL, READY FOR THIS SHIT?, MIKE MET A GIRL. YUP, A 17 YEAR OLD GIRL FROM NEW JERSEY. HE FELL IN LOVE AND WANTED NOTHING MORE THAN TO BE WITH HER, WHATEVER THE COST AND BELIEVE ME IT COST ALOT, IT COST NOT ONLY ME BUT ANYBODY WHO BELIEVED IN WHO WE WERE AND WHATEVER WERE ABOUT.WELL MIKES GIRL WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN THEY MET AND SHE WAS GONNA MOVE TO DETROIT WHEN GRADUATION WAS OVER AND FOR WHATEVER REASON, SHE CHANGED HER MIND AND TOLD MIKE SHE WASN'T GONNA MOVE. THATS WHEN THINGS WENT BAD. I HAD MENTIONED THAT C.A.L. WAS MINE. WE HAD NO LABEL FOR SUPPORT, COMPLETLY D.I.Y., WE HAD AN OFFICE/STUDIO WHERE WE REHEARSED AND TOOK CARE OF OUR BUSINESS. IT WAS WHERE WE KEPT ALL OF OUR MERCHANDICE, MUSIC, EQUIPMENT, LEGAL PAPERWORK, FILES , CONTACTS, PRESS AND ALL THOSE ESSENTIALS THAT ANY BUSINESS WOULD NEED TO DO WHAT THEY DO. NOT OT MENTION ALL THOSE SENTIMENTAL OR KEEPSAKE TYPE THINGS THAT ARE WORTH MORE TO SOMEONE LIKE ME, ANYWAY, AT THE TIME, WITH ALL THE PERSONAL RESPONSABILITIES I HAD AND THE AMOUNT OF BUSINESS WE WERE BEGINING TO GET INTO, THINGS GOT STRESSFUL AND CRAZY BUT COUPLED WITH MIKE WANTING TO BE WITH HIS GIRL IN JERZEY, HE MADE HIS MOVE AND OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ,QUIETLY,HE FIRST TOLD THE REMAINDER OF THE BAND THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO TOUR ANYMORE, THAT THERE WAS A RECORD DEAL ON THE TABLE AND I WOULD NEVER SIGN(WHICH WAS TRUE). WE WERE A H/C BAND DOING WHAT WE DID FOR H/C. HE THEN TOLD THEM ABOUT A BAND IN N/Y CALLED SWORN ENEMY AND THAT THEY NEEDED A DRUMMER, GUITAR AND BASS PLAYER. THEY WERE ON STILLBORN, JAMEY JASTAS LABLE, SO THE PROSPECT OF BEING IN A BAND THAT HAD THAT KIND OF SUPPORT, CONVIENIANT FOR MIKE, MUST HAVE LOOKED GOOD.BUT IT GETS WORSE,HE THEN WENT AROUND THE DETROIT AREA, COLLECTING MONEY OWED FOR MERCH AND CS'S, AGAIN, VERY QUIETLY, WHICH WAS TO FUND HIS MOVE TO THE EAST COAST. HE THEN AFRAID OF OWING TAXES, TOOK THE 4 MOST RECENT YEARS OF FILES, THAT CONTAINED INFO ON CONSIGNEMENTS(WORLD WIDE). ALL THE MONEY FOR DISTRO, CDS AND MERCH WAS LISTED IN THESE FILES. IT SAID WHAT WAS SHIPPED, TO WHERE, CONSIGNMENT CONTRACT, AND TERMS OF PAYMENT, E.T.C.,E.T.C., IT TOTALLED JUST UNDER $$40,000. ALOT OF MONEY!! HE TOOK THEM TO AN ACCOUNTANT TO PREPARE THE TAXES, SHE TOLD HIM SHE WANTED $450 FOR EACH YEAR. TOTALLING $$1800. KEEP IN MIND, I STILL NEW NOTHING OF HIS DOING. I FOUND OUT BOUT TWO WEEKS INTO HIS MOVE BY SOMEONE THAT WORKED FOR THE BAND, SHE ASKED ME IF I HAD BEEN TO THE STUDIO/OFFICE LATELY, I TOLD HER NO. SHE TOLD ME I BETTER GO AND THIS IS WHAT I WALKED INTO. SOME MIGHT REMEMBER JAKE LOCH, HE PLAYED BASS IN C.A.L. FOR 6 YEARS. HE WAS THE ONE WHO GOT SHOT IN THE KNEE CAP, WELL BEFORE HE DIED, HE GAVE ME A GIBSON MUSTANG(GUITAR), IT MEANT ALOT TO ME, THAT WAS GONE. ALL THE PRESS, POSTERS, ALL THE MAGAZINES THAT WE WERE FEATURED IN WERE GONE. I HAD PROPERTY THAT WAS HEAPED ON THE STREET, WAITING FOR TRASH PICK UP. THE STUDIO ITSELF WAS LEASED TO SOMEONE ELSE ALREADY AND THE FILES WERE ALL GONE, ALL BEFORE I NEW ANYTHING. I DIDN'T KNOW WHICH WAY TO TAKE ALL OF THIS,ON ONE HAND , I WANTED TO DO WHAT I HAD NORMALLY DONE TO SOMEONE THAT WOULD DO THIS. BUT ME BEING A FATHER AND BEING COMMITED TO STAYING OUT OF PRISON FOR MY FAMILY, DECIDED TO TAKE THE HIGH ROAD, THINKING, THAT IF GIVEN THE TIME, HE WOULD CUT HIS OWN THROAT. I IMMEDIATLY DID WHAT I COULD. I TRACKED DOWN THOSE FILES, THEN LEARNED THAT I OWED HER $$1,800. TO GET THEM BACK . BY THE TIME I GOT THE MONEY I OWED FOR THEM, ALL BUT A FEW DISTRIRIBUTERS TOLD ME THE TERMS HAD EXPIRED AND BASICALLY I LOST ALMOST $40 GRAND. COLD AS LIFE NEVER HAD A BLOOD IN BLOOD OUT POLICY AND I WOULD NEVER HOLD A LIFE DECISION AGAINST ANY BODY, THAT WOULD BE RIDICULOUS AND WAS AND IS STRAIGHT UP WRONG. MIKE COULS WAS SEVEN YEARS OLD WHEN I STARTED C.A.L. AND HE RIPPED IT OFF, PISSED ON IT, THEN LEFT IT FOR DEAD. AS HARD AS IT WAS TO TAKE ALL OF THIS WAS JUST A CLOSED CHAPTER IN MY LIFE AND THATS THE WAY I WANTED IT. BUT NOW, I'VE LEARNED THAT ROY BATES, THE ONE THAT WALKED AWAY AND QUIT C.A.L., WENT BEHIND MY BACK ON DEC. 17TH OF 2006 AND COPYRIGHTED THE NAME COLD AS LIFE. HE HIRED MIKE COULS AND BIG DOG AND SOME OTHERS TO DO COLD AS LIFE TOUR/SHOWS. SINCE ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED, UP TILL THE RECENT EVENTS ANYWAYS, I HAVE ALWAYS KEPT THE DOOR OPEN FOR A C.A.L. REUNION WITH ROY , I GREW UP WITH HIM, HE WAS C.A.L.S DRUMMER FOR THE MAJORITY OF OUR EXSISTANCE. I LOVED HIM AS A FRIEND AND TO THIS DAY STILL HAVE LOVE FOR HIM AND WISH HIM AND HIS FAMILY WELL, AS FAR AS THAT GOES, I WOULD EVEN COME HOME FROM RAMALLAH TOURS AND TELL ROY THAT PROMOTERS IN CITIES WE TOURED WERE OFFERING ALOT OF MONEY FOR C.A.L. TO PLAY. BUT IT NEVER SEEMED TO GO ANTWHERE BECAUSE I WANTED TO GET THE ORIGINALS THAT WERE STILL ALIVE, I DIDN'T WANT TO JUST THROW A LINE UP TROGETHER AND CALL IT C.A.L. ALTHOUGH I HAD MANY CHANCES TO, IT WAS WRONG, SO IT NEVER WENT ANYWHERE. ROY BATES COPYRIGHTS C.A.L. 8 OR SO YEARS AFTER HE WALKS AWAY, JUST 2 1/2 MONTHS AGO FROM NOW. THE ONLY REASON C.A.L. WASN'T COPYRIGHT IS THE NAME WAS WELL ESTABLISHED AND RESPECTED, I FELT IT WAS SAFE-MISTAKE! HE DIDN'T SAY A WORD TO ME. ASKS MIKE COULS TO PLAY, THE VERY ONE WHO BURIED IT, LEFT IT FOR DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT AND AM IN THE BEGINING STAGES OF A COURT CASE(PRETTY GAY HUH!), BUT I GOTTA FIGHT THIS. BEING A D.I.Y. BAND WE ACCUMULATED ALOT OF DEBT, FROM RECORDING,MERCH,, GEAR, E.T.C.,E.T.C. WHEN C.A.L. WAS SHIT ON I WAS AND AM THE ONLY INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS TRIED TO MAKE GOOD ON ANY OF OUR COLLECTIVE DEBT. I HAVE SHIPPED HUNDREDS OF CDS FOR FREE, I HAVE PAID ALOT OF MONEY. I HAVE WORKED OFF, TRADED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF MERCH THAT I PAID FOR TO SETTLE A COLLECTIVE C.A.L. DEBT. I AM THE ONLY ONE THAT NEVER WALKED AWAY FROM COLD AS LIFE. I FOUGHT FOR IT FROM THE BEGINING TO THE END. I AM MAILING THIS TO EVERYONE I HAVE IN MY ADDRESS BOOK. I AM SORRY IF THIS MEANS NOTHING TO YOU, FOR WASTING YOUR TIME. IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU CARE ABOUT, FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU THINK MAY GIVE A SHIT. I REGRET HAVING TO WRITE THIS. I REGRET THE DRAMA AND SOAP OPERA B.S., BUT I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO FIGHT THIS. ON THE LEGAL LEVEL, MY LAWYER SAYS ITS A SLAM DUNK CASE IN MY FAVOR. SO I'M HOPING IT GETS TO COURT BEFORE THESE SHOWS HAPPEN. IF NOT, KNOW THAT THE LINE UP IS BOGUS! WITH NO CREDABILITY! THEY ARE THE ONES WHO WALKED AWAY FROM SHIT ON ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. I WILL POST UPDATES AS THEY HAPPEN ON C.A.L.S MY SPACE. FEEL FREE TO HIT ME UP, FEEL FREE TO POST COMMENTS, AGAIN I FELT IT WAS TIME TO MAKE THIS SHIT PUBLIC. I DON'T KNOW WHO WILL GIVE A FUCK IN THIS DAY WHERE LOYALTIES AND FRIENDSHIP MEAN NOTHING. TRUST NO ONE. JEFF G.